TEN YEARS AGO Friday May 25, 2012

Tidal turbine in Sanda Sound

Electricity generated by tides at the Mull of Kintyre should be flowing into the grid at Southend this winter.

Renewable energy company Oceanflow Development hopes to put a small-scale tidal turbine in Sanda Sound.

Its managing director Graeme Mackie exclusively told the Courier this week he sees other parts of Kintyre’s coastline as having the potential for further projects.

The turbine, positioned between the mainland and Sanda Island, could encourage utility companies to consider a larger array of full-sized tidal turbines around the Kintyre coast.

Whilst planning permission has already been obtained for the project, there are still some hurdles to overcome.

An agreement with the seabed owner, Crown Estates, has to be converted into a lease; a licence application to Marine Scotland must be granted, and the grid needs to be extended with greater capacity down to Southend.

Mr Mackie told the Courier each of these processes was going well and they hoped to tie up the licence and lease by next month.

He said: ‘We see Sanda just as a test site for small-scale devices because the flow is not that fast there, but there are strong flows around the Mull of Kintyre with the potential for largescale tidal energy projects.’

In contrast to some previous onshore wind turbine plans, local community members appear united in support of the tidal power test.

John Bakes, chairman of Southend Community Council, said: ‘We are all quite in favour of it. It would appear in the community that it’s preferable to wind farms.

‘If there was a proposal to build lots of these tidal turbines, we would have to discuss that in more detail but, for the test site, there was not a single objection.’